Abstract #2331

Weng J, Chen J, Tseng W, Su C

Neuroimaging methods have been proposed to provide noninvasive approaches for neuroscience research. Functional MRI (fMRI) based on blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) in brain research remains challenging, such as spatial resolution, motion suppression, complex paradigm and drug administration. Therefore, an alternative MRI approach is provided by manganese-enhanced MRI (meMRI), which has the potential to image neural activity by using manganese ion as a MR-detectable contrast agent. The purpose of this paper is to use the direct and effective meMRI in 3T MRI to map accumulative pain-evoked activity (APA) and activity-induced manganese-dependent contrast (AIM) of electric stimulation of rat forepaw. In order to detect diluted concentration of Mn2+ in rat brain and to highlight the active area, contour plot of meT1WI and R1 map were implemented. Our results indicated a clear relationship between Mn2+ enhancement and pain-evoked activity.